GREEDY PUNK PAUL ALLEN, THIS LOSS IS ON YOU."I don't give a crap WHAT you gotta pay, Kam is worth it and I don't want to lose a shot at another SB cuz you - a freaking BILLIONAIRE, are cheapskating Kam over a freaking $900,000.You cheapskate." SalishHawkFan SEP 13, 2015 1:47 PM

My guess is that Howard did not show the kind of effort and results in practice that he displayed in the preseason. It's also possible that Seattle drafted Howard in the hopes that he'd grow as a run defender and become an every down 3-tech, but it seems very likely that Howard will forever be a 3rd down specialist. On a lesser roster, that might not be a big deal, but ours is so crowded that it's hard to spend one of your 45 active roster spots on a guy that sees 10-15 snaps a game.

It's worth noting though, that Howard did make the roster and stayed on it. That's no small feat these days.

kearly wrote:My guess is that Howard did not show the kind of effort and results in practice that he displayed in the preseason. It's also possible that Seattle drafted Howard in the hopes that he'd grow as a run defender and become an every down 3-tech, but it seems very likely that Howard will forever be a 3rd down specialist. On a lesser roster, that might not be a big deal, but ours is so crowded that it's hard to spend one of your 45 active roster spots on a guy that sees 10-15 snaps a game.

It's worth noting though, that Howard did make the roster and stayed on it. That's no small feat these days.

I still have high hopes for him next season, but it will be even tougher if we bolster our DL with draft picks and FA's. Sure wish he was activated for the ATL game though, maybe he could have been able to collapse the pocket at least one time...

GREEDY PUNK PAUL ALLEN, THIS LOSS IS ON YOU."I don't give a crap WHAT you gotta pay, Kam is worth it and I don't want to lose a shot at another SB cuz you - a freaking BILLIONAIRE, are cheapskating Kam over a freaking $900,000.You cheapskate." SalishHawkFan SEP 13, 2015 1:47 PM

When you have 9 D-linemen on your roster they can't all play or even be in the rotation, so some are going to be squeezed off of the active gameday roster. It's no surprise that this season Howard was the primary one for that - a rookie who bounced all up and down the D-line during his career at Florida after arriving as a 240-pound DE, and who needed what amounted to a 'redshirt' season as a rookie to settle in at the 3-technique while adjusting to the NFL game and continuing to fill out his frame. He had Branch and McDonald ahead of him as running-down options at the 3-tech, and Jones and (the pleasantly surprising) Scruggs ahead of him as pass-rushers in the same spot. There wouldn't have been much justification to deactivate any of the other 8 DL's in favor of Howard this season. His time will come, but he needed some development, and he got a lot of it this season while watching and repping (in practice). Howard was not a "disappointment," he was just a rookie. He has a future here, and with Branch and Jones both FA's, that future could begin in 2013.

Hope to God he doesn't have Tubbs syndrome.But what if it's Tubbs 2005 syndrome?

Cuz he was IR'd back-to-back years and consistently injured. Just because your memory is bright doesn't mean u can evaluate DL. Sure, Tubbs was considently injured but don't act like an expert; Tubbs wouldn't have been drafted under our current regime; they woulda traded to 15 and drafted Rodgers...

The explanation of Jaye Howard essentially "redshirting" his freshman year in the NFL makes the most sense.Also the 240 lb. thing. How's that going to push around 330 lb tackles, especially on running plays?

entropyrulesall wrote:Cuz he was IR'd back-to-back years and consistently injured. Just because your memory is bright doesn't mean u can evaluate DL. Sure, Tubbs was considently injured but don't act like an expert; Tubbs wouldn't have been drafted under our current regime; they woulda traded to 15 and drafted Rodgers...

Umm...who are you talking to??

BTW Tubbs was drafted in 2004, Rodgers was drafted in 2005...also Rodgers was taken with the 24th pick of the draft, so I got no clue why you said 15... again,

GREEDY PUNK PAUL ALLEN, THIS LOSS IS ON YOU."I don't give a crap WHAT you gotta pay, Kam is worth it and I don't want to lose a shot at another SB cuz you - a freaking BILLIONAIRE, are cheapskating Kam over a freaking $900,000.You cheapskate." SalishHawkFan SEP 13, 2015 1:47 PM

I remember when we drafted Howard, the word was that Dan Quinn had called PC/JS and pushed for them to get him. He thought he had a ton of potential and would be a good player for them. Howard was on Florida when Quinn was the D Coordinator, so just a thought, since they are now re-united, maybe he steps up and becomes a bigger part of the D? Any thoughts?

The notion that Howard didn't see the field because of depth and quality ahead of him feels wrong to me. McDonald had a bad year, and saw the field and active roster a ton. Probably because we didn't have anyone else better to take that role.

If we had not signed Quinn i would not have been surprised to see Howard cut next year. PC/JS are way to active to keep a unutilized DT for another season. I am happy Scruggs did so well, but considering Howard was a 4th round pick Howard has been a dissapointment. Not to say he is a bustbut his first season was sure a bust. Lane, Guy, Sweezy, and Suggs all got more playing time and were later picks.

I hope Howard can turn it on but I also expect us to bring in 2-3 mroe DLine through the draft and FA and with a tough competition in the preseason he will have a hard time making the roster next year.

Wenhawk wrote:If we had not signed Quinn i would not have been surprised to see Howard cut next year. PC/JS are way to active to keep a unutilized DT for another season. I am happy Scruggs did so well, but considering Howard was a 4th round pick Howard has been a dissapointment. Not to say he is a bustbut his first season was sure a bust. Lane, Guy, Sweezy, and Suggs all got more playing time and were later picks.

I hope Howard can turn it on but I also expect us to bring in 2-3 mroe DLine through the draft and FA and with a tough competition in the preseason he will have a hard time making the roster next year.

Yeah, Howard is definitley in that bottom 1/3 of the roster that Pete and John like to keep under a constant churn. I love that concept as it makes the cream rise to the top. Having Quinn on board now likely gets Jaye a little more... not sure what the right word is... attention maybe...? opportunities...? I dunno, but I don't think it gives him any kind of license to under-achieve. Being a USC guy didn't give anyone any special treatment under Pete, so I don't think being a Florida guy is going to give anyone any special status under Quinn.

Howard will now need to 'show me' to the coaching staff to stick around. He's reported to have a good first step and reasonable power pass rushing so I guess we'll see

At present the reasons why he hasn't passed up the others on the DLine are not transparent but it appears he was out-competeted by them. Seems to be an underachiever so far.

Until we develop a pass rush that will cause opposing teams to be forced to scheme to defend it we will never be able to consistently take the final step. The interior rush needs improvement. The OLine clearly still needs work.